Blog #11: Botox and chronic migraine
A couple of months ago when I started this blog I was fortunate to connect with migraine advocate Carl Cincinnato.
Carl is the founder of the Migraine World Summit, author of MigrainePal, works for Migraine and Headache Australia and is involved with many headache and migraine organisations.
During one of our first few phone conversations Carl asked me if I was interested in writing an article about Botox for chronic migraine. I jumped at the chance, as Botox is something I’m considering trying to manage my chronic migraine attacks, so it was a great opportunity to learn more about it.
Read the article on the Migraine and Headache Australia website
It was interesting to research the evidence behind its use for chronic migraine and the clinical trials the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used to approve it as a treatment option, specifically the PREEMPT study, which you can read more about in the article.
While writing the article I learnt how important it is Botox is given by someone following the approved migraine protocol. This protocol was developed and tested over 10 years and the injection sites are different than cosmetic Botox sites. Personally, I’d be wary of any cosmetic doctor saying they can treat chronic migraine or headache with Botox, unless they’re trained specifically in chronic migraine Botox treatment, which I believe is only the domain of neurologists.
And because Botox injections sites are different for chronic migraine, you won’t end up looking like Miss Barbie above. Sadly. Though probably very fortunately if you’re a man.
Botox isn’t a quick fix solution for chronic migraine (if only there was such a thing!), and it can take 2 or 3 treatments 12 weeks apart to see if it’s improving the frequency or intensity of your migraine attacks. While that may seem a long time - up to 9 months - here’s a bit of inspiration: it’s been over 9 months since I began my one year no alcohol ‘thing’ and that time has gone reasonably fast. And like I mentioned in this blog I didn’t touch a drop of booze during NZ’s COVID-19 lockdown. If I can do that, you can make it through a trial of Botox.
Unfortunately, In New Zealand it’s difficult to access publicly funded Botox and most people have to pay privately. Undoubtedly this means many Kiwis who may benefit from Botox treatment are missing out. This needs to change as it’s an evidence-based approach to treating chronic migraine.
Too many New Zealanders are affected by migraine disease, which I’ve written about in this blog. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be data in New Zealand about how many people with migraine disease are classified as having chronic migraine, but I can hazard a guess there are a lot.
Anyway, I hope you find the article helpful, and I’d love to hear about your experience with Botox. Have you had success with treatments through your district health board or have you paid privately? As I mentioned, it’s on my list of ‘maybe’ treatments so I’m keen to hear from Kiwis who’ve given it a go.
Feel free to email me: sarah@sayline.co.nz or join the conversation on Facebook.